Recently I was considering the word Transcendence. My question was what is transcended in Buddhism?It was something to ponder for awhile. I was wondering if you could let me know what you have transcended in Buddhism so far in your practice.

Some of the goals to transcend in Buddhism appear to be:

rising above suffering through coming to understand what precisely it is; how it arises; how it ceases; and practicing a path to reduce suffering in life and even end it altogether and stop coming back in future lives to suffer again!;

rising above operating in our life from a very personal, even selfish perspective by experimenting with the opposite impersonal and unselfish perspective; realizing the different outcomes possible and then making an effort to live using a more balanced approach to life;

rising above carrying our past with us all the time and if we slip and do something wrong, forgiving ourselves this slippage and getting back up onto the road again and keeping going forward attempting to improve.

It's interesting to me that by practicing using Right Effort all the time, using the 6Rs to help keep this wholesome action going, one moves in the direction of achieving these kinds of transcendences. This seems to be very encouraging to have a path that is clear enough to see the direction it is carrying you......

This is also in keeping with the Canki Sutta in the Majjhima Nikaya and it's description of what is most beneficial for you to be doing while you are training and practicing toward the transcendence of such things as these. It's also in keeping with the Upanissa Sutta in the Samyutta Nikaya which gave us a picture of our path of development.

Can you think of any other things that the practice has helped you to "transcend" in your life?I would be interested to hear about it....